I Guess the Honeymoon Isn’t Over

Twice in the past few weeks our endocrinologist and CDE have said that Q is still honeymooning.

Both times this came as a bit of a surprise to me as I assumed that the honeymoon period lasts only about six months to a year, if that. We are at the two-and-a-half year mark here.

Q’s basal rates are relatively low. They range between 0.20 and 0.30, depending on the time of the day. I have no real reference as to what basal rates of other children the same age or weight are (she’s 6 1/2 and weighs about 52 pounds), but I assumed this was typical. The endo said that she is probably making some of her own insulin based on these low basal rates.

When I was called about the iPro CGM results, the CDE iterated the endo’s suggestions and thoughts based on the data. Again the term honeymoon was brought up. According to the iPro, Q is not spiking after some of her meals and they suggest it’s because she is still producing some of her own insulin.

I assumed that lack of spike after a particular meal was a triumph of pre-bolusing, accurate carb counting, and a great combination of foods.

Does it matter if she’s honeymooning or not?

Probably not. We are going to correct blood sugars and bolus for meals according to what ratios are working right now.

But I guess we might be in for a rude awakening when her pancreas stops producing insulin altogether and her rates double seemingly overnight and everything we know if thrown out the window.

Further Reading

I already had this post written when I read their post last week, but it’s good to know that people with diabetes may have some functioning beta cells even years after diagnosis because you just never know where a cure or better treatment options are going to come from.

Hey! My daughter (16) is approaching what my 11 year old son affectionately calls her 2nd diabetes birthday. I think we, too, are still on our honeymoon. Her last A1c was in the low 5’s, I’m thinking 5.1 but it was back in December. I contributed her low A1c’s to our diligence in taking care of her (yes, I can admit to being ocd about her care!). I always felt that we caught her diabetes so early (truly a fluke that she was diagnosed when she was) maybe that was why she was still in her honeymoon phase. But, the more I’m reading, maybe not. Whatever the case may be, her endocrinologist always compliments her for doing so well so I’m thankful for that!

We are in the same boat with Leah (6), and we’re going on two years. None of her basals are higher than .225 and her endo expects she will at least double that when it’s truly “over.” Doesn’t really matter much day to day, other than the weeks where her insulin needs make a huge jump for no apparent reason, and they blame it on that. But it sounds to me as we’ll be dealing with that all through adolescence anyway. Just kind of crazy to think that a pancreas can sputter in and out for that long.

My 6 y.o. is approaching 3 years this month, and her basal rates are all over the place. She has 7 different basal rates, which range from .025 after midnight to .675 after she goes to bed. Only in the last year did we have to double her bedtime basal rates. I’m fairly certain that Sarah’s pancreas is just for decoration, but she is still super-sensitive to insulin increases. Her endo just attributes it to her small size. (She’s 45 pounds.)